School district defends decision to ban parents who wore 'XX' wristbands at girls' game with trans athlete

About two months after banning parents who wore “XX” bracelets during a football game against a transgender high school athlete, a school district is confident in its decision to do so.

Anthony Foote of Bow, New Hampshire, told the New Hampshire Journal he received a trespassing notice from Bow and Dunbarton school district Superintendent Marcy Kelley after wearing armbands in support of sports girls-only bios at his daughter's high school soccer game. in September.

Foote, his wife Nicole, Kyle Fellers and Eldon Rash then filed a federal lawsuit against the Bow School District, Schools Superintendent Marcy Kelley, Principal Matt Fisk, Athletic Director Mike Desilets, Bow Police Lt. Phil Lamy and football referee Steve Rossetti several days later.

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A group of New Hampshire parents sued a school district for being excluded from a girls' soccer game for protesting the participation of a transgender player. (Getty Images)

According to the lawsuit, the “silent protest” at Bow High School was intended to “show solidarity” with the Bow team and to oppose a policy allowing a transgender girl to play on the Plymouth team.

Fellers and Foote testified Thursday that they had not intended to harass or otherwise target a transgender player on the opposing team, but the school district said otherwise.

Kelley and Desilets believed the protest wouldn't stop at just the bracelets, saying they had received very strong emails from Foote in which he called himself a “real leader” ready to take action. They also said Foote urged others to attend the game on social media.

In the days leading up to the game, another parent told school officials she had heard other people talking about showing up to the game in a dress and heckling the transgender player.

“When we suspect there is some sort of threat … we don't wait for it to happen,” Kelley said Friday.

According to the lawsuit, the “silent protest” at Bow High School was intended to “show solidarity” with the Bow team and to oppose a policy allowing a transgender girl to play on the Plymouth team.

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Kelley also pushed back on the idea that the plaintiffs were simply expressing support for their daughters and teammates in general, noting that they chose the only game involving a transgender player to start wearing the wristbands.

“It was organized and targeted,” she said. “If we allow harassment, we will be responsible for it.”

On Thursday, a federal judge in the case, Steven McAuliffe, pushed back against the parents for repeatedly referring to the athlete as a boy.

“You seem to go out of your way to suggest that trans girls don’t exist,” McAuliffe said during the hearing.

The transgender player in question, Parker Tirrell, and another student-athlete are challenging the state law that prohibits transgender athletes in grades 5 through 12 from playing on teams that match their gender identity. A federal judge ruled in their case that they can play sports during the ongoing lawsuit seeking to overturn the law.

The Bow School District defended its decision to exclude those who wore “XX” wristbands at the game. (Friedemann Vogel/Getty Images)

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Gov. Chris Sununu, who signed the Women's Sports Equity Act into law in July, said it “ensures fairness and safety in women's sports by maintaining integrity and competitive balance in sports competitions.

Fox News' Paulina Dedaj, Landon Mion, Jackson Thompson and Associated Press contributed to this report.

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